A browser is a software application that is used to locate and display pages from the Internet. The two most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Browsers such as Navigator and Explorer are graphical browsers—they can display graphics and text. Also, they, and other modern browsers are directly capable of sound and video reproduction, or can be accessorized to permit the multimedia capability.

Browsers are able to direct queries to sites on the Internet because of hyperlinks--jumps to another place--whether a new position on the present page, a new page on the same site, another window that displays additional information, or an entirely new site. A hyperlink can be a Universal Resource Locator, or URL, which is the equivalent of an address. A URL often begins with ''http'', which refers to hypertext transfer protocol. Other parts of the URL address can specify the...